Last year many little ones left us.  All had medical problems.  It was a
difficult year.  So how do I continue?
 
First and foremost, I love each and every little one with all my heart.
Some are a bit more special but the love is the same.  Each loss hurts
deeply, sometimes it takes a bit longer for me to recover from a
particularly difficult illness or unexpected death.
 
But then I sit back and think about what would have happened to these
little ones if they hadn't come to me?  Would they have suffered a prostate
enlargement and urinary blockage for days before the bladder ruptured?
Would they have seized unmercilessly from insulinoma episodes?  Would their
heart have beaten so hard from heart ailments that their entire body pulsed
before it gave out?  Would they have drowned in their own fluid in their
lungs because no one noticed they were having difficulty breathing?  Would
they have pined away in a filthy cage?  Starved to death locked in a cage
without food and water?  Abandoned?
 
What keeps me going when my heart feels like it is being torn from my chest
is not only my love for this wonderfully enchanting, endearing creature,
but also that they need us to look out and care for them and my need for
them to know they are very much loved.  I know that while they are with me
they are well taken care of, their medical needs are met (and sometimes
exceeded), and they have quality of life (not always quantity), even if
their time is short.
 
For me, I believe I am contributing to make the world a better place for
those that cross my path.  In a world so full of hate and cruelty, I have
to try to make it better for those I can.
 
Warm hugs to all. tle
Troy Lynn Eckart
Ferret Family Services
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~sprite/ffs.html
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/5481/
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[Posted in FML issue 3167]